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Yahoo!The West Beach Music Festival bills itself as a "family friendly" event, but the lineup on Sunday evening was anything but. While references to illicit drug use during a predominantly reggae lineup are to be expected, the profanity-laced set by Pepper was over the top. The explicit sexual references, the statements designed to incite partial nudity by the female audience, the liberal dropping of F-bombs—all this might be appropriate for an adult-themed performance at a regular music venue, but it's completely out-of-line for an event that boasts a "kids’ stage" and a bouncy house.
I know that some will respond that children had no place at this event, or perhaps should have be taken home before the final lineup on Sunday, but that's not how the event was promoted. At the very least, there should have been fair warning, a simple advisory on the ticket would have sufficed. The kids I was with won't be scarred for life, and it wasn't the most traumatic experience I've ever had, but I am disappointed in the organizers of the show.
As for Pepper, it’s fine to want to distance yourselves from your radio-friendly hits, but show some respect: The people who bought your albums and praised your singles are the ones who got you to that main stage. Insulting the audience, bragging about taking hits of acid before the show, and bemoaning the fact that you'd rather be drinking in the beer garden than up on stage—those actions show zero class, and I, for one, am no longer a fan. — Elizabeth Cutright
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wow , culture has taken such a hit from the bush years , becoming a slug fest of angry posturing , just to relieve the anxiety from the era we hail from,
people are mere tuning forks for our collective vibrational field , and it has a particularly noisy garage societal band run ..
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harryhaller (anonymous profile)
October 2, 2009 at 8:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Elizabeth, I couldn't agree with you more. I attended all three days and didn't miss one band. I was upset by the F bombs and particularly the acid dropping comment. There was another reference by another band there prior to Pepper going on who said " Stick with marijuana and not hard drugs" I am no longer a Pepper fan and have seen them in concert many times.
Get some class guys!!
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KarenR (anonymous profile)
October 5, 2009 at 8:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"The kids I was with won't be scarred for life, and it wasn't the most traumatic experience I've ever had"
Then why the prudish whining?
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truth_machine (anonymous profile)
October 5, 2009 at 4:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"wow , culture has taken such a hit from the bush years"...
WTF does that have to do with any of this?
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cartoonz (anonymous profile)
October 8, 2009 at 4:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Think about all the talented musical acts, musicians and songwriters throughout time who didn't have to resort to gutter-culture lyrics. I remember Paul McCartney saying that he was glad the Beatles' music was mainly positive. (And as I recall, The Beatles had some talent)
And I agree with cartoonz: How do the Bush years enter into this?
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billclausen (anonymous profile)
October 19, 2009 at 2:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I do not recommend anybody with a family going to West Beach Festival.
High-school kids were right next to me on the main stage on Saturday, and they were offering free drugs to everybody around in exchange for a pipe, the worst part is that they were so high that couldn't even understand a single word of what was said to them...
Sad and decadent...
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summersb (anonymous profile)
October 22, 2009 at 11:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Imagine, pot being passed around a concert!
What is this world coming to?
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binky (anonymous profile)
October 22, 2009 at 2:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Harry Haler, brilliant comment, you really hit the nail on the head
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fiddler (anonymous profile)
October 22, 2009 at 6:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, what is the hope for people like me who want to enjoy Ben Harper without drugs?
Isn't the whole hippy-reague thing about freedom?
Where is my freedom if I want to go to a concert "just to hear the music", and not inhale the drugs from the person next to me?
What is this world come to where I cannot freely chose to not inhale drugs??
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summersb (anonymous profile)
October 23, 2009 at 11:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How about having no-drug concerts? There are christian concerts and of course Barry Manilow those are pretty drug-free.
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AZ2SB (anonymous profile)
October 23, 2009 at 10:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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